TODAY: The ridge that has kept most of us dry through the past several days will begin to be forced eastward as a trough begins to work toward Alabama today. We’ll have a good bit of sunshine to start, with clouds building during the heating of the day. We can’t rule out a few isolated afternoon showers and thunderstorms, mainly over the northeastern parts of the state, but nearly all of central Alabama will stay dry through sunset. Afternoon highs will be in the lower to mid-90s. Any afternoon rain activity should quickly dissipate before it gets dark; then the trough begins to work into northwestern Alabama, increasing rain chances for that area, especially after midnight. Lows will be in the upper 60s to the lower 70s.

REST OF THE WEEK: The trough arrives on Tuesday and will attempt to pull a cold front into Alabama, but it will wash out and stop north of the state. We’ll have an increased risk of scattered showers and thunderstorms north of the I-59 corridor, while the standard summertime risk of isolated to scattered afternoon showers and storms will be in place south of I-59. Highs will be in the upper 80s to the mid-90s.

The trough works a little deeper into the state on Wednesday, pushing the higher rain chances farther southeast. Much of the state will see an increased chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms, especially north of the I-85 corridor. Afternoon highs will be in the upper 80s to the mid-90s.

We return to a more classic summertime pattern on Thursday — hot and humid with the standard risk of scattered, mainly afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Highs will be in the upper 80s to the mid-90s.

Friday will be much the same, with coverage of the scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms being a little higher over southeastern Alabama. Highs will top out in the upper 80s to the lower 90s.

THE ALABAMA WEEKEND: There won’t be much change in the weather pattern for the weekend. We’ll continue to be hot and humid with the standard risk of scattered, mainly afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Highs will be in the upper 80s to the lower 90s.

TROPICS: A tropical wave over the eastern Caribbean Sea has been given the name of Invest 95L and will move to the west-northwest over the next few days. While conditions are not favorable for development over the next five days, Invest 95L will move into a little better environment near the Straits of Florida or the Bahamas at the end of the week. We’ll be keeping our eyes on this as it will head toward the southeastern U.S. coastline. It is too early to be specific on what this disturbance will do once it approaches the mainland.

ON THIS DAY IN 1981: Fifty cattle, each weighing 800 pounds, were killed by lightning near Vance. The lightning struck a tree and then spread along the ground, killing the cattle.

BEACH FORECAST CENTER: Get the latest weather and rip current forecasts for the beaches from Fort Morgan to Panama City on our Beach Forecast Center page. There, you can select the forecast of the region you are interested in.

WEATHERBRAINS: You can listen to our weekly 90-minute netcast any time on the web at WeatherBrains.com or on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify. This is the show all about weather featuring many familiar voices, including the meteorologists at ABC 33/40.

For more weather news and information from James Spann, Scott Martin and other members of the James Spann team, visit AlabamaWx.